September 2012

Will Bike 4 Food

Last year, Amherst conducted its first Campus Challenge to raise funds and donate food to the Amherst Survival Center. It was an astonishing success with over $10,000 raised and over 10,000 pounds of food donated. This fall, the campus will again organize as part of a new Campus Challenge with some new goals and objectives to be announced by the end of October.

Until then, here is another great way you can help. On Sunday, September 30th, people can join the WillBike4Food bike-a-thon to raise money for the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts. You can read all about the event at this link: http://www.foodbankwma.org/events/bike/

As part of the Campus Challenge we invite and encourage you to participate in the Food Bank of Western Massachusetts’s second annual Bike 4 Food event. Last year, the event raised over $35,000 which turned into $455,000 worth of food to feed families’ in need right here in our community.

This is a terrific opportunity for the Amherst College community to come together for a great cause. You can choose from a 25, 50, 75 or 100 mile bike ride over beautiful Western Massachusetts roads at close to peak of the fall foliage season. If you have never had a chance to get outside the Amherst area, this is an excellent opportunity to experience what some national publications call the best cycling routes in the nation.

Signing up is simple. Once you read about the event at the above link, go to the FirstGiving Website for this event. You need to create an account by answering a few basic questions. Important: Be sure to specify Amherst College as your team. This will ensure that the total raised by all teammates go toward the team. if you miss this, you can add it later.

Once signed up, you have an opportunity to customize your page that you send donors to, as well as use social networking to get the word out. Please note that there is a $250 fundraising minimum, but getting there is easy! Take a look at the Fundraising guide here. Keep in mind there are prizes for getting to certain levels of funds!

If you have any questions about signing up, an on-campus contact, Tim Cary can help. Or, you can contact the event coordinator directly at the Food Bank: Heather Clark (heatherc at foodbankwma dot org).

Please check back here frequently for updates, as we are working on reserving a van for transportation up to Hatfield.